Alice & Sam : set and match
Look at how effortless hosting can be. This relaxed table setting makes it easy to have everyone over - no airs and graces necessary. Alice Lines, Editor of Homestyle magazine & our very own Città Stylist Sam van Kan, share their tips to relaxed but polished summer entertaining.
Find all this and more in the latest Homestyle magazine.
Game of Tones
Interiors are having a tonal moment, which is a look that’s perfectly suited to a laid-back table setting - and couldn’t be easier to achieve. First let’s get the bones right. Timber bench seats bolstered with cushions are ideal for accommodating a crowd, and look great teamed with oak and leather dining chairs.
A low shelving unit works well as a servery and drinks station; fill it with spare cutlery, napkins and coasters so they’re close at hand.
Wrinkle, wrinkle
Embrace effortlessness by leaving your table linen unironed. The trick to mastering this undone effect is washing and air-drying your tablecloth and napkins the afternoon before your get-together, then placing them straight on the table, rather than folding them away. If the result is a little too wrinkled for your liking, spritz the fabric with water and smooth it with your hand.
Use tonal napkins to tie a white tablecloth into the rest of the setting. We went for Città’s Citron and Olive hues, which riff off our summer - meadow - style floral arrangements made using locally grown anemones, Queen Anne’s lace, spray chrysanthemums and wheat.
Styled by Alice Lines and Sam Van Kan, words by Alice Lines, and photography by Simon Wilson.
